Christina Korbe wants sentence cut in Pittsburgh FBI agent slaying

A western Pennsylvania woman who fatally shot an FBI agent during a drug raid at her home nearly five years ago doesn't deserve a reduction of her 15-year, 10-month prison sentence, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday.

Christina Korbe, 44, asked that her sentence be reduced, citing her newfound remorse and "exceptional" efforts to turn her life around. Sentenced under a plea agreement and serving the term at the Federal Medical Center-Carswell near Fort Worth, Texas, Korbe filed the motion last month without the help of an attorney.

In their response, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Troy Rivetti and Donovan Cocas said that Korbe's rehabilitation, which included getting her GED diploma and completing a drug abuse education course, was hardly "exceptional" although is commendable. They said only certain circumstances allow a person to ask for a sentence reduction, and none of them applies to Korbe's case.

They also argued that the plea agreement precluded her from seeking a reduced sentence and that as part of the deal, she agreed that the appropriate punishment for the death of FBI Special Agent Samuel Hicks was the sentence she received.

The agreement included dropping drug-trafficking and weapons charges carrying a minimum 45-year prison sentence, they said, and "sought to achieve justice, finality and some measure of closure" for Hicks' family, including his wife and son, who was 2 when the agent was killed.

Korbe has been incarcerated since shortly after the shooting, meaning she's served nearly a third of her sentence. Her husband, Robert Korbe, is serving 25 years for cocaine trafficking convictions related to the raid at their home.

Christina Korbe acknowledged shooting Hicks when he led the pre-dawn drug raid at her Indiana Township home on Nov. 19, 2008. But she maintained she did so only because she was startled and concerned for her children, believing the authorities were unknown intruders.SLIDESHOW: Photos from the FBI shooting scene at the Korbe home

When she was sentenced, Korbe tearfully apologized to Hicks' family but also blamed the FBI's "tactics and procedures," saying, "the element of surprise is not worth someone's life."

Citing a federal appeals court decision, Korbe argued she's entitled to a reduced sentenced if she can demonstrate "a fundamental change in attitude by genuinely accepting responsibility for her criminal activity and radically altering her lifestyle." The prosecutors said that case doesn't apply to Korbe's situation.

They also agreed Friday with a statement last week from the FBI Agents Association arguing that Korbe "should remain in prison and serve every single day of her sentence."

Photos: FBI Agent Shot Dead In Pittsburgh Suburbs

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FBI Special Agent Sam Hicks

Pittsburgh FBI Special Agent Sam Hicks was shot and killed while serving a drug warrant with a task force on Nov. 19, 2008.